Speak Now
by Jezebel95
Summary: A HP one-shot based on Taylor Swift's song Speak Now. Ron is about to marry Lavender Brown, and Hermione is ready to do everything to stop him from doing so. Funny and romantic! Enjoy!


**This is my first story **_**ever**_**, so I don't know how much it will work…Anyway, enjoy the reading, and review, please!**

That's it. For Merlin's sake, how did I get myself in this situation? I should have gotten back home, far away from…_this_. But I couldn't. I just…couldn't. So here I was, in my best dress -the lilac one from Bill and Fleur's marriage-, waiting for my happiness to be destroyed forever.

People was gathering around the high, dark wooden doors of the ancient church, chattering excitedly about the ceremony that was about to be celebrated. Was it time yet, really? Oh, God, please, if you exist, help me!

Trying not to drawn attention on me, I sneaked past the small crowd and into the cool shadows of the church. It was small and beautiful, with those walls made of large, smooth stones and the white flowers decorating the aisle and the altar. The air smelled like freesias and roses, reminding me of a garden. I would have loved it in other circumstances, but right now it made me feel terribly sick. Why did I have to inflict myself such a pain? I sighed, biting my lip. When Harry told me I swore I would have never come, but then I decided that I had to see it happening before giving in forever. I had to see Ron marrying Lavender Brown.

_I am not the kind of girl_

_Who should rudely in on a white veil occasion_

_But you are not the kind of boy_

_Who should be marrying the wrong girl_

But why? Why sneaking in like a thief, not even daring to raise my eyes from the floor? I wasn't that kind of girl, the one who broke all her rules to do such a stupid thing. But I was in love, and love makes people do crazy things. It was strange experiencing it, after reading about it so many times. And I couldn't let Ron marry her without thinking twice. Not Lavender, the shallow girl who always wanted to show she was with Ron, to see the other girls envying her. Especially to see _me _suffering, when she and Ron trashed around Gryffindor common room together. She wasn't who he thought, and I wanted him to see me in the crowd before saying yes. It was foolish, but I hoped that he could change his mind on the last minute.

Or at least that a little part of him could regret choosing her over me, losing everything we could have been.

_I sneak in and see your friends_

_And her snotty little family all dressed in pastel_

_And she is yelling at a bridesmaid_

_Somewhere back inside a room wearing a gown shaped like a pastry_

Everything was set in a matter of minutes: everyone was in place, waiting and chattering in a low voice. Ron's family was to the right of the altar, their red heads and brightly colored clothes in sharp contrast with the Brown family on the left, dressed in pale, depressing, anonymous pastel colors. Even from the distance, they looked cold, and I felt an instinctive dislike towards them. But, after all, my judgment was not clear, not when I felt like they were stealing something that was mine by right.

I looked around, carefully avoiding to look at _him_, who was standing in front of the altar. I saw Harry by him -he was Ron's best man, along with George-, scanning the room like he was looking for someone. I sighed, shaking my head: I knew he was looking for me, even if I'd told him I wouldn't have come. Was I that predictable?

A loud shriek echoed in the church, and I looked up, surprised. It was Lavender's voice, there was no doubt about that. I saw Mrs Weasley giggling behind her hand, along with Ginny and a few others -even Fleur!-, but they were soon shut by an angry looking Mrs Brown. I scowled at her, taking advantage of the fact she couldn't see me, and turned my attention back to the angry sounds coming from one of the back rooms. Seemed that Lavender was trying to kill one of her bridesmaids…

I couldn't help but smiling when I saw a flash of her through the half-opened door: her eyes were shining with fury, her cheeks were flushed and her blondish hair was a mess. Seeing her like that made me think she might have been part Banshee. She was wearing a thing that I assumed was her dress, but that looked like a giant pastry, with that large, round skirt covered in embroideries. It made her look like a big, angry cake.

_This is surely not what you thought it would be_

_I lose myself in a daydream_

_Where I stand and say_

I finally forced myself to look at Ron, holding my breath. He looked extremely uncomfortable: he was shifting his weight from one leg to another, and his fingers were twitching nervously, a thing that I had seen him doing only during our exams at Hogwarts. It looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there.

Or, at least, it was what it looked to me.

I closed my eyes for a second and let my imagination run, just like I did so many times when I was a kid and I liked to create new stories upon the books I read. If I only were braver, stronger, I would have gotten up in the middle of the ceremony and spoke.

But I wasn't.

_Don't say yes, run away now_

_I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door_

_Don't wait or say a single vow_

_You need to hear me out and they said Speak now_

In my daydream, I would have walked to the middle of the aisle and looked directly at Ron, fearless. I would have told him not to say yes and to run away now -I would have even begged him, if it was necessary-. I would have told him that I loved him, that I had always done so, and that I would have waited for him out of the church, at the back door, no matter what. That saying his vows would have been a mistake, the hugest of his whole life, and that I didn't care what he would have said to me, because I just wanted to tell him what I felt before it was too late for me to.

_Fun gestures are exchanged_

_And the organ starts to play a song that sounds like a death march_

_And I am hiding in the curtains_

_It seems that I was uninvited by your lovely bride-to-be_

A sudden movement forced me back to reality: a kid in a fluffy light yellow dress was waving her hand from a corner, gesturing to the woman who sat at the organ. A few seconds later the music started to play, and I felt my heart sink into my chest: it was the traditional Wagner march, a song that I used to like when I was little and I went to a few weddings with my parents, but right now it made my blood cold as ice in my veins. I felt the urge to puke, but I pushed away the sickening sensation. I would not have crumpled here and now. At least, I hoped so.

I took a step back, blending in with the pale lilac-colored curtains that shielded the bright sunlight of the warm Sunday of May. I didn't want Lavender to spot me, since Harry had told me that she had opposed fiercely when Ron's family had insisted to invite me too. I didn't want to risk her to kick me out of the church, even if it would have been funny to watch the guests' faces as she did so.

_She walks down the aisle like a pageant's queen_

_But I know you wish it was me_

_You wish it was me –don't you?-_

She looked so full of herself as she walked down the aisle…Her face was plastered with makeup, which made her look like a caricature of a Barbie doll, with all of that baby pink eye shadow on her eyelids and her lips smeared with pink lipstick. She was such a ridiculous view I had to put every ounce of my strength not to burst into laughter. I saw Ron's blue eyes widening a little, and he frowned slightly, straightening his shoulders. He looked around nervously, to his family and friends, like he expected someone to stand up and save him from his lovely bride-to-be.

I couldn't help smiling with bittersweet satisfaction: bet he wished it wasn't Lavender who walked towards him now. And a little, annoying part of me could have sworn that he wished it was me instead.

_Don't say yes, run away now_

_I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door_

_Don't wait or say a single vow_

_You need to hear me out and they said Speak now_

When everyone turned towards the altar to look at the bride, I sneaked silently to the last bench, where just two redheaded children -Ron's cousins for sure- sat. There was no way they could know who I was, and, anyway, they were too busy laughing at Lavender under their breath and exchanging Famous Witches and Wizards cards to pay much attention to me. So I went back looking at Ron.

I didn't want him to say yes, to marry her. I wanted to beg him to run away with me, to leave that girl who was so different from his family, so completely _wrong_ for him. I wanted to silence him with a charm to keep him from saying his vows.

But who was I to do so? I was just Hermione Granger, the witch who spent all of her time studying, with her nose stuck in some book. The annoying knows-it-all who was unable to relate with people, who found herself at ease only in a library or in a classroom.

Just a Muggle-born, seen with disgust from most of the ones of her own kind. I touched the inside of my wrist absentmindedly, where Bellatrix had cut the word "Mudblood" three years ago. I had concealed it with a charm, but it was still there, I could feel the irregular scars under my fingers, to remind me who I really was. Something in my chest started to throb.

Maybe, after all, I wasn't worthy of him.

_Don't say yes, run away now_

_I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door_

_Don't wait or say a single vow_

_The time is running out and they said Speak now_

But, as the ceremony went on, I realized I was doing everything wrong: I was sitting there, racking my brain on how insignificant I was, while I watched the only one I ever loved marrying another girl. Where was the Hermione who fought risking her life during the Hogwarts Battle, the one who almost died under Bellatrix's curse to keep her friends safe? The one who was so stubborn no one could ever make her change her mind?

I straightened my shoulders and lifted my head, taking a deep breath. I had to try to do something, _anything_ to stop this. I wanted a chance to have my happiness back. I would have lost it anyway if I failed, so I didn't care.

I braced myself, knowing that I was about to do something absolutely crazy.

_I hear the preacher say _

_Speak now or forever hold your peace_

_There's the silence, that's my last chance_

_I stand up with shaking hands, all eyes on me_

"…Speak now or forever hold your peace."

The preacher's words sank into my brain one by one: that was the moment I was waiting for. I closed my eyes for a second in the silence that followed the traditional speech, and stood up, my heart pounding in my ears, my hands shaking slightly. I made just the faintest rustle as my dress rubbed on the rough wooden bench, but it echoed like a thunder in the still air, and every single pair of eyes in the church focused on me.

_Horrified looks from everyone in the room but I'm only looking at you_

_I am not the kind of girl_

_Who should rudely barging in on a white veil occasion_

_But you are not the kind of boy_

_Who should be marrying the wrong girl_

I saw with the corner of my eye the outraged glare Mrs Brown directed at me, and the slight, concealed smug look on Molly Weasley's face, but I was oblivious to all of it. Because I was looking at Ron, who was staring back at me in surprise -and relief-, with a look in his blue eyes I had longed to see for a long time.

I took a deep breath and spoke, my voice low and calm: it seemed almost an act of sacrilege, to use high pitches in that place and in that moment.

"You know, Ronald, I'm not exactly the kind of girl who is used to barge in this way on a wedding," I said, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling of dozens of eyes staring at me as I walked down the aisle. "But I also think that you are not the kind of boy who should make a mistake like this without thinking through it." Was that my impression or Lavender had just actually growled? No, I was right, she had growled at me. But I wasn't going to stop, not now that I had decided what to do.

_So don't say yes, run away now_

_I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door_

_Don't wait or say a single vow_

_You need to hear me out and they said Speak now_

"And-I have to talk to you." My voice was barely a whisper now, but I knew he could hear me perfectly. "Because I think that you are wrong doing this. And because I realized I was wrong too, trying to ignore what my heart had told me for too many years."

Everything was silent; the only sound I could hear was the loud, erratic beating of my own heart. "It was just fear that held me back, I understood it just now, and…I'm tired to hide the truth." That was it: I had to say it now. Speak now or forever hold your peace,I reminded myself. I wouldn't have had any peace to hold on to if I didn't.

"And the truth is that-I love you, Ron. I think I've loved you ever since we were kids. And I'm not going to sit here while I watch you walking away from me forever. I don't want you to say yes, Ron, not to her. I might be the most selfish person on Earth's Face, but I want you to run away now, without turning back. And I don't care what you think-I just needed to tell you before it was too late for me to do anything." I lowered my gaze, while a thick silence fell between us. The seconds seemed to stretch endlessly, and I felt tears welling up in my eyes when I heard nothing but the faint sound of my breaking heart.

So, I was wrong.

He didn't feel the same way about me. I should have expected that. I was a fool, thinking I could change things…I felt my control slipping through my fingers, and I didn't want to break down in front of so many people.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, starting to step back. "I don't even know why I'm here. I shouldn't have come." Just as I was turning, a gentle hand wrapped around my arm, stopping me.

"Mione, don't." Two words, spoken softly in a way that made my heart melt. Hope rose painfully in my chest as I turned to find Ron staring at me, his blue eyes filled with an emotion I couldn't decipher. "You spoke, now it's my turn."

_And you say Let's run away now_

_I'll meet you when I'm out of my tux at the back door_

_Babe, I didn't say my vows_

_So glad you were around when they said Speak now_

"With you, I'd run away in this very moment, without thinking twice. And you are not the most selfish person in the world -that's me-. That's me, because, God only knows, I would have been unhappy for my whole life knowing you couldn't be mine. Because I've loved you since we were kids too. I've loved you ever since I woke up in the Chess Room and I found you there, all messed up, telling me that everything was alright, and that I had been the bravest person you had ever seen."

A tear escaped my eyes, rolling down my cheek. "We were eleven," I whispered, smiling.

For all this time, he had returned my love without ever telling me, to the point that I convinced myself that he didn't want me. I had never been happier to be wrong in my whole life. Ron nodded and smiled, brushing a rebel curl from my face. I wanted so bad to kiss him…I leaned in, but a high-pitched shriek stopped me.

"Don't you dare touching my RonRon, you bitch!" I turned sharply as Lavender's hands clasped my arms with such force she hurt me. Yes, she was definitely part Banshee. To my surprise, Ron smiled, bending slightly to look Lavender in the eye.

"LavLav?" he asked, his voice sweet as melting honey. She stared back at him intently. "I give you three seconds to leave her alone. And I swear on Merlin's beard that if you dare calling her 'bitch' again, I'll take rid of all of your makeup with my fists, even if you are a girl."

She widened her eyes, shocked, and abruptly unclasped her hands. Red marks matching her fingers immediately appeared on my skin, and I stepped back, rubbing them as blood started running again. I didn't expect her to be so strong. I watched as the shock on her face was replaced by a hot fury, and she screamed something I didn't get; then she ran out crying and Disapparated with a loud _crack_. Her family followed her shortly, each of her relatives stopping just the few seconds necessaries to yell some unusual, colorful insults towards Ron and me.

I had to admit I was really impressed from the view of the perfect-and-cold Brown family losing their temper in such an impressive way, but, after hearing Lavender yelling at her poor bridesmaids before the ceremony, it didn't surprise me. Apparently, bad temper was the family distinctive…_peculiarity_. But I would have thought about it later.

"How are your arms?" Ron asked softly, taking my hands in his. I shrugged. "A little bit sore, but it's no big deal: I'll be fine in a matter of minutes." He nodded, his eyes smoldering under his dark lashes. I'd never been so close to him before, not like this, anyway. He lightly caressed the side of my face with his fingertips, and I blushed, smiling shyly. It was too real to be a dream, but I still couldn't believe it was actually happening. Then he leaned in and kissed me, and it was like everything clicked in place in that very moment, like the missing piece I always looked for just appeared into my heart, chasing away all the sadness and loneliness. Just that small, gentle touch, and my life turned out to be as close as possible to my concept of _perfect_. And I had pretty high criteria about that.

When we broke apart, I opened my eyes to find him staring back at me, with such love in his eyes that made my heart skip a beat.

"So, what's going to happen now?" I whispered, not moving of an inch. Ron smiled, gesturing towards the small crowd I hadn't realized had gathered around us.

"Well, we have this beautiful church…" he whispered. The unmistakable sound of someone Disapparating ripped through the air, and a wide-smiling George appeared in the middle of the crowd, calling "Parents delivery service!", with -I couldn't believe it- my mom and dad, who looked happy and surprised, smiling at me with bright eyes.

"…All of our friends and families…and, guess what?" he said, smiling and picking a small black velvet box out of his pocket. He opened it, revealing a delicate silvery ring encrusted with shimmering dark blue stones. It was way too small for Lavender's hands, so he had to take it on purpose…

"I have a ring too. Who knows how it ended up in here?" I smiled, understanding where he was aiming for. "The only missing thing is a bride, but I think we can deal with it, don't we?" I nodded as tears welled up in my eyes. "Yes," I whispered as he took my hand and led me to the altar. "I think we can."


End file.
